by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. - Tony Stewart emerged from 29 days of recovery after a broken leg as mostly the same old "Smoke" but with one minor change: He was more eager than usual to speak with reporters.

In a news conference at Stewart-Haas Racing that marked the three-time NASCAR champion's first public appearance since getting injured in an Aug. 5 sprint car race in Iowa, Stewart cracked jokes about a lack of attractive nurses, vowed to return by next season's Daytona 500 and showed little remorse that his decision to race on the side ended his season prematurely.

And after 80 minutes, Stewart was still in such a good mood that he encouraged reporters to ask more questions so he wouldn't have to go back to bed.

"Oddly enough, I actually miss you guys," he told the media, with whom he's often sparred. "Which tells you that I'm not healthy yet."

Stewart, who used a wheelchair and a large black walking boot on his injured right leg, offered details about the crash, his recovery and his future at great length.

Despite weeks of lying in a bed and doing little else but watching Oprah, Stewart said he's remained surprisingly upbeat.

"It just seems like a small bump in the road," he said. "I'm one of those believers that everything happens for a reason, and I feel lucky that if it's going to happen, the timing of it happened where I'm not going to miss next year.

"It could have been a lot worse. It's not that bad."

While leading a sprint car race at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa with five laps to go, a lapped car spun out in front of him and kicked up a cloud of dust.

Similar to the famous scene in Days of Thunder, Stewart said he couldn't see through the cloud but stayed in the gas anyway in hopes of it being a false alarm.

But when he emerged, Stewart said, his car was aimed "straight at the cockpit" of the other driver. Stewart made a last-second move to try and dodge him, but the two made contact at full speed and sent Stewart flipping. The torque tube shot to the side and snapped Stewart's lower leg, giving him a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula.

As with any crash, Stewart started unbuckling his helmet and undoing his belts. But he found it "weird" that his right leg "felt numb."

"I thought I must have just banged it against the frame rail or something and it went numb," he said. "But when I looked downâ?¦(the bone) was way out. I knew at that point it was fairly serious."

Because the leg was still inside his driver's uniform, Stewart said he didn't understand the full extent of the injury until after the first of two surgeries (he eventually had a titanium rod inserted into the leg during a surgery in Charlotte).

After being released from the hospital, Stewart has been staying at the home of business manager Eddie Jarvis, who has cared for his longtime friend along with wife Dana.

Though he received plenty of support - 850 text messages in the first 36 hours after the crash and, on some days, visitors for nine hours straight - the recovery process has been long and painful so far.

"This is probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with," he said. "This is definitely the worst injury I've ever had in my life and racing career."

Stewart said he's just now regaining some of his independence. He finally got crutches (though he's not using them much yet) and recently regained the ability get himself out of bed and shower in the last couple weeks. He plans to be at Richmond this weekend to help oversee his NASCAR teams, which include Danica Patrick, Ryan Newman and Mark Martin, who is subbing for Stewart in the No. 14 car.

The worst part, he joked, was the lack of "hot girls" around him like at the track.

"I mean, when you're laying in bed, there's not much traffic going through my room," he said. "I thought surely three Cup championships, an IndyCar championship, winning the USAC triple crown, a national championship in '94, that I could get one hot nurse during this whole thing, and I got Eddie Jarvis to take care of me."

But despite the crash and the implications it's had on his season, Stewart said he didn't regret the decision to race for fun. He compared his accident to Bobby Labonte's cycling accident last week, in which Labonte crashed and broke three ribs.

Stewart said his accident was no different than if he had been hit by a car while crossing the street. It wasn't like he was racing with no helmet and seatbelts, he said.

"It's just life, guys," he said. "Things happen every day. You can't spend your whole life trying to guard against something happening. If you do that, in my opinion, you've wasted your life.

"I'm going to take full advantage of whatever time I've got on this earth. I'm going to get my money's worth. You can bet your butt on that."

That said, Stewart acknowledged the idea of frequent sprint car racing was a "little bit of a sensitive topic" with his sponsors.

Stewart, who had planned to run 70 sprint car races this year, said he will race sprint cars again at some point but will "definitely" reduce his schedule once he's healthy (though much of that is because he found himself getting tired in mid-July from the frequent racing).

Doctors told Stewart he'll be able to get back into a Cup car in early February, which would be a total of six months' recovery time. There's a chance for a setback and an infection, so Stewart said he's not looking too far ahead.

"The leg should have "100% recovery," he said.

"Everything is going according to schedule and may actually be a little ahead of schedule," Stewart said. "But if we get done early, we don't have anything to gain by it. If we have a setback, we have a lot to lose by it."

Stewart has already had what he said were 90% of his stitches removed, though a few on his right knee were still visible Wednesday. Though he got crutches last week, it's still easier for him to get around via scooter -- especially since Kurt Busch gave him one to ride around the shop.

Ever the competitor, Stewart even raced another SHR employee (who also uses a scooter) around the top floor of the building this week.

"We had the Rascal 500 upstairs around the engineering department and the marketing department upstairs," Stewart said. "I'm proud to announce that after 21 days, I'm back in the winner's circle and have not forgot how to win races."

Stewart hopes to return to his Indiana home when he begins physical therapy (at least three more weeks from now) but is willing to stay in North Carolina if the doctor says it's necessary.

In the meantime, Stewart said he's following doctor's orders and trying not to pass out when he sees his leg during appointments. As it turns out, the 42-year-old is quite squeamish, particularly when looking at the skin damage on his leg.

"I go into it with the attitude that I'm not going to look at my leg, and as soon as they get the wrapping off of it, I'm like, 'I've got to look,'" he said. "It's like yelling at a dog going, 'Squirrel!' I cannot not look.

"And then I spend the rest of the time sitting there with a wet washcloth on my forehead trying to regain consciousness."

Stewart also said he's been pleased at being able to stay in tune with his teams by communicating via radio and keeping up with lap times from home.

But he watches the races differently than the average fan, he said.

"I'm not sitting back in a recliner getting a beer every commercial break," he said. "I'm really engaged and got a lot more information than what they're just getting from the TV broadcast."